[ELTWeekly Volume 6, Issue 6 | March 3, 2014]

This paper is written in response to several requests for self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000) based lesson plans / tasks that can be used in a communicative language teaching (CLT) class. The theoretical basis for the task presented herein can be found in research results published previously in The School House (Ockert, 2013). First, it must be noted that “(r)ecent studies on SDT-based motives have shown that games are primarily motivating to the extent that players experience autonomy, competence and relatedness while playing” (Ryan, Rigby, & Przybylski, 2006, p. 2). The authors investigated the impact of game play on participant psychological well-being based on these three basic psychological needs, which games are presumed to satisfy. Second, the “results show that SDT’s theorized needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness independently predict enjoyment and future game play” (p. 1). While some educators may argue against the use of the term ‘game’ for an in-class exercise, the terms ‘activity’ or ‘task’, as in task-based language teaching (TBLT), will be used in this paper. (more…)